Sale maverick mends ways to lead battle for fly half spot...Will England gamble on Cipriani in the race for No 10?

Stuart Lancaster faces the biggest selection call of his tenure this week when he names the playmakers he will trust to guide England through the Six Nations and on to next year’s home World Cup.

England’s head coach announces his Six Nations Elite Player Squad (EPS) on Thursday and, with just 20 Tests to play before next year’s global tournament, the time has come for him to settle on his three favoured No 10s.

In-form Danny Cipriani is one of several stars vying to fill the two remaining fly-half slots alongside Owen Farrell after Toby Flood’s decision to move to Toulouse next season ruled him out of England contention under RFU selection guidelines. Freddie Burns’s dip in form has left selection for the pivotal position wide open.

In the frame: Danny Cipriani is vying for a spot in the Six Nations Elite Player Squad

Bath’s George Ford and Northampton’s Stephen Myler are also pressing hard for a call-up.

The selection of Cipriani, 26, who has not played for England since 2008, would be the boldest call for Lancaster.

As recently as April, any prospect of him returning to the England fold seemed remote when Cipriani was hit by a bus after a boozy night out. That closed a troubled first season back in England following self-imposed exile in Australia.

But the most talented English player of his generation has been a revelation this season for Sale, running their three-quarter line with a calm authority and impressing Lancaster with assured displays.

There is every chance he could be set for a return five years after he fell foul of former head coach Martin Johnson and was left on seven caps.

'Over the course of the Six Nations and the summer tour to New Zealand, England would be foolhardy not to look at Danny,’ said Sale’s rugby director Steve Diamond.

'He’s got his backside into gear, changed his ways and he is delivering on the field.’

Cipriani’s unwillingness to toe the party line saw him lose the trust of Johnson, who had handed him two starts just weeks after he had returned from a badly broken leg in 2008.

The last of his caps came as a replacement against New Zealand later that year, a series of bust-ups with former attack coach Brian Smith convincing Johnson to settle on the lower-maintenance pair of Jonny Wilkinson and Toby Flood for what turned out to be a disastrous 2011 World Cup campaign.

But with record points scorer Wilkinson now retired, 60-cap Flood bound for Toulouse and Cipriani back close to his best, Lancaster has a huge decision to make in a key position.

Headache: Stuart Lancaster has some huge decisions to make for his Six Nations Elite Player Squad

Gloucester’s Burns — who made his debut in England’s victory over New Zealand in 2012 and toured Argentina last summer — had been earmarked as Flood’s successor but his form has dipped amid speculation over his long-term future at Kingsholm.

Ford, formerly the IRB young player of the year, has been the model of consistency for a resurgent Bath outfit after leaving Leicester in the search of regular first-team rugby last season.

The 20-year-old former rugby league player will face Flood at Welford Road today as Bath take on Leicester.

‘It took me a hell of a long time to decide what to do last season,’ said Ford. ‘It was a stressful time because

Leicester are a great club and a winning club and I knew I’d be leaving a lot behind.

'It was massively frustrating,’ he said.

Pick me: Bath's George Ford is pressing for a spot in Lancaster's squad selection

‘I just wanted to get out and play. I didn’t get as much game time as I would have liked because Toby was playing really well. There was not much I could do about that except be ready when I got the opportunity.

'As an individual, I needed to go to a club where I would get more game time and be able to develop. As a fly-half you need to play week-in-week-out to hone your game and I felt I was ready for that. Thankfully it has worked out pretty well.’

Farrell is the one fly-half certain to be named in Lancaster’s 32-man squad. Two from Ford, Cipriani and Burns are most likely to fill the back-up roles for the Six Nations, which begins for England against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 8.

Despite Flood and Wilkinson’s departures to France, there are no shortage of fly-half options.

Northampton’s 29-year-old Myler provides another dependable option and Exeter’s 20-year-old Henry Slade also appears certain to feature in the future.

But on Thursday, with Lancaster admitting his side are short of ‘X-factor’ players, all eyes will be on Cipriani to see if he has passed this season’s audition.

In the running: Exeter's Henry Slade looks set for a bright future and could feature in the EPS

Former England winger Mark Cueto believes it would be a tragedy if Cipriani did not force his way into the reckoning and play for his country again.

Cueto claims his Sale team-mate has vastly improved his game management and deserves to be brought in from the cold by Lancaster.

'I have been around for 14 years and not seen many players with Danny’s ability to create something out of nothing,’ he said.

'Everybody knows about his skills and the maverick element to his game but now the basics are coming to the fore. They haven’t in the past.

Choices: Lancaster could is be considering givign George Ford of Bath a chance

'His defence and his game- management have improved massively and he is doing it every week for Sale, which is important.

'When he is showing that kind of discipline, coupled with his brilliance, then he has to be getting closer towards the England side. Certainly, for a player so talented, it would be a tragedy if he did not play for his country again.

'The Six Nations are probably a bit too soon perhaps, but you never know.

'The summer tour has got to be a target for him and the World Cup in 18 months is an absolutely huge target. People are talking about Danny for the right reasons again.'